


A New Addition

by Mwuuh



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Open Marriage, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 05:17:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16804357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mwuuh/pseuds/Mwuuh
Summary: While Zin'jalli is grieving the loss of his lover, his husband Karzog decides to cheer him up with a new addition to the household.  A little pet, to be specific.





	A New Addition

Karzog wasn't sure whether what he was doing was a particularly great idea. But he'd gone and done it now, and though he was sure it could be undone, he wouldn't feel good about doing it.

The walk home wasn't any different than usual, apart from the fact that he was tense as a bowstring. The thought of how his husband was going to react to what he had done, made him feel apprehensive like never before.

Opening the door to their house, he found nobody home. Karzog expected this, knowing that Zin'jalli had gone to see Guntrak's dead body in Orgrimmar before the upcoming funeral...

He sighed at the thought. Guntrak... They'd found his corpse in the middle of a battlefield in Arathi Highlands, a fist-sized hole going straight through his torso. His guts had spilled out, smeared on the ground as if he'd been the colour palette for some experimental street art.

The sound that had escaped Zin'jalli upon seeing his dead boyfriend, had broken Karzog's heart. He never wanted to hear such an anguished wail from his husband ever again. He'd decided there and then that he would be the last of the two of them to die; he could not bear the thought of causing him such pain, even if he weren't there to witness it.

Karzog placed the blankets he was carrying down upon the living room table. He peered into the basket sitting on top of it, but couldn't get a thought out before he heard the front door open. He gasped in surprise, closed the lid on the basket, and turned around to see Zin'jalli enter the house. The troll looked miserable, of course, but at least he was up and walking.

"Hey, Zin," Karzog said, shielding the basket with his barrel-chested body.

"Hey."

"How..." There was a pause as Karzog wondered how to phrase his question. "How was it?"

With a half-hearted shrug, Zin'jalli replied: "I, uh... I held his hand. It was cold. One of his soldiers was there... She knew who I was, apparently. Told me a few stories." He laughed humourlessly. "I may have kept Anyel, Lara, and Nlaea there against their wills. I really wanted them to stay, but it was rude of me nonetheless."

Karzog smiled sympathetically. "I'm sure they understood." He watched as Zin'jalli nodded, clearly not convinced. "Hey. I have something for you."

Zin'jalli finally looked up at him, with curiosity and uncertainty in his eyes.

The orc couldn't help laughing a little. He stepped aside, revealing the basket on the living room table. "Come have a look."

As soon as Zin'jalli saw the basket and the blankets he stopped in his tracks, his eyes narrowing. He glanced between Karzog and the basket for a moment before walking up to the table and lifting the lid on the basket.

Once the soft gasp escaped his husband, Karzog couldn't help but to laugh.

Out of the basket crawled a kitten. A dark tabby kitten with wide, green eyes that were taking in its surroundings with great curiosity. Then it took notice of the huge troll in front of it, and it stretched its head out far to sniff at him.

The troll in question couldn't suppress a surprised laugh. "You've--" he began, unable to complete the sentence before the next one took its place: "It's huge!"

"I like it when you say that," Karzog said smugly. He grinned happily when Zin'jalli laughed. "But yeah, it's quite a large kitten. That's why I got it for you."

Zin'jalli looked puzzled for half a second before it dawned on him. He fixed Karzog with a wide-eyed look.

"It's a big cat," Karzog continued, "j-just like Guntrak was a big orc." He began picking at his fingers nervously, feeling his face flush hot. "I-I-I hope that wasn't too... rude of me..."

They both turned to look at the kitten, which had jumped out of the basket and taken a few rounds around the table. It peered around, sniffing the air. Its hind legs and its tail were practically brushing the surface of the table, indicating that the cat was mildly unsettled by this new, strange place.

"Gunny..." Zin'jalli muttered, still watching the kitten.

The kitten abruptly turned to the troll and meowed, startling him.

Its two new owners looked at each other, mouths agape. Karzog couldn't contain his laughter, and Zin'jalli looked back at the kitten, smiling brightly.

"I guess Gunny's inhabited this little-- Uh, this massive kitten."

"Yeah," Zin'jalli said breathlessly, still smiling at the kitten. "That's a nice thought." He closed his mouth and sniffled, his eyes becoming watery. "Welcome home, little Gunny. That's _not_ gonna be your name, by the way, so don't get used to it."

The kitten, seemingly more at ease with the two huge creatures sharing a room with it, blinked at Zin'jalli, and sat down to groom itself. Apparently it needed to shine its fur before exploring its new home.

"Aw," Zin'jalli said, a smile forcing its way onto his face. "It's already licking itself."

"Yeah," Karzog agreed. "I'm glad _your_ pussy can't lick itself, or you wouldn't need me anymore."

He grinned widely when Zin'jalli howled with laughter, startling the kitten. It took a whole minute of giggling before the troll managed to find his way over to his husband and place a soft kiss on his lips.

"I'll always need you, Karzog," he said sweetly. "Nobody makes me laugh like you do."

Karzog felt his cheeks flush hot. He smiled. His quip had been nothing but a joke, but it was nice to be reassured sometimes.

The warm, fuzzy feeling didn't last, though.

"Uh, Zin, I think Little Gunny is..."

The two of them watched as the kitten squatted in the corner next to a bookshelf.

"Now we know where to put the kitty litter, I suppose," Zin'jalli commented dryly. "I'll clean that up, don't worry."

After worrying all day about how Zin'jalli would react to this sudden new pet, Karzog knew that he could in fact stop worrying right now. He felt his entire body relax, not even aware of how tense he'd been.

A kitten had been a _great_ idea.


End file.
